Johor vet’s roadside intervention turns injured langur into a clinic “companion” and conservation symbol.

A rain‑soaked dusky leaf monkey rescued from a busy Johor highway has melted hearts across Malaysia, while drawing attention to the dangers endangered primates face from roads, habitat loss and the pet trade.

A Black Shape On A Rainy Highway
On a stormy day along the Kulai highway in Johor, veterinarian Dr Marlia Zulkapli spotted what looked like a “black object” on the tarmac. Only when it moved did she realise it was a monkey, sitting motionless in the middle of fast traffic as lorries and cars swerved around it. Judging the situation too urgent to ignore, she pulled over despite the risks and approached the animal, later telling Harian Metro that she found blood on the road and on the monkey’s face, ears and legs, with one hind limb drooping.

From Critical Condition To Clinic Companion
Dr Marlia brought the animal back to her clinic in Pekan Nanas. The dusky leaf monkey – later nicknamed Kula after the Kulai highway – was in a critical state, with a hind limb fracture, nasal bleeding and near-total immobility, she told The Straits Times. Yet in her May 16 TikTok video, Kula sat quietly on the car’s footwell and then on her lap, looking calm despite its ordeal. Subsequent clips showed the monkey slowly recovering, munching on fruit and even “working” as a gentle companion to other animals, letting a cat tug playfully at its tail. The viral rescue video has drawn over 1.2 million views and thousands of admiring comments.

Building Trust With A Forest-Inspired Habitat
To help Kula feel safe, Dr Marlia transformed its enclosure into a forest‑like space, decorating it with leaves and a soft toy. She believes the monkey’s calmness and cooperation during treatment have aided its recovery, saying that tolerating a cat playing with its tail was “a beautiful sign that she’s feeling safe and beginning to trust her surroundings.” While Kula’s overall health has improved, the leg fracture remains serious and is expected to take around two months to heal fully before the animal can be moved to a facility better suited for long‑term care.

Dusky Leaf Monkeys Under Threat
The dusky leaf monkey, or spectacled langur, is easily recognised by the pale circular rings of fur around its dark eyes. The species is officially listed as endangered on the IUCN Red List, with populations in Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand estimated to have more than halved since 1985. Key threats include hunting, habitat loss and fragmentation, conversion of forests to agriculture and capture for the pet trade. Road networks slicing through forests add another layer of risk, exposing arboreal primates to vehicle collisions when they attempt to cross gaps in their canopy routes.

Roads, Canopy Bridges And Everyday Heroes
In response to growing roadkill and fragmentation, Malaysian authorities have begun building artificial canopy bridges so langurs and other arboreal wildlife can traverse busy roads without descending to ground level. Kula’s near‑tragedy underlines why such structures matter, but it also shows how individual action can make a difference when infrastructure falls short. For Indonesians and Singaporeans who travel frequently through Malaysia, the story is a reminder that slowing down in wildlife‑rich areas, reporting injured animals and supporting organisations that care for them can complement formal conservation projects on the ground.

Kula’s journey from a bloodied, rain‑soaked figure on a Johor highway to a recovering clinic companion has captured the public imagination and shone a spotlight on the fragile status of dusky leaf monkeys. For Indonesians and Singaporeans, the viral rescue underscores that conserving endangered primates requires both systemic measures – like canopy bridges and habitat protection – and everyday compassion from people willing to stop, step in and help when wild animals meet modern roads.

Sources: Straits Times (2026) , NST (2026)

Keywords: Kula Langur Rescue, Dr Marlia Zulkapli, Kulai Highway Incident, Pekan Nanas Vet Clinic, Emotional Support Animal, Canopy Bridge Conservation